Floor Sweepers: From Walk-Behinds To Riders, Sized To Serve

Every cleaning business knows today’s score: Customers want some peace of mind that their buildings are not only neat and clean but are also healthy environments. Floor sweepers have become must-haves in equipment inventories and for good reason.

• Sweepers get rid of floor dust and debris that might otherwise become airborne.
• In factory settings, sweepers get rid of items that may cause worker accidents, such as nails.
• Sweepers keep floors looking professionally maintained, which impresses office visitors.

These are not your ancestors’ push-brooms: Modern floor sweepers do an impressively fast and thorough job in getting the work done. They range in prices and sizes, from mini-models to large walk-behinds and sturdy riders. The large machines are floor sweepers engineered for the special floor challenges of industrial environments. Here are highlights of today’s choices:

Walk-Behind Battery-Powered Sweepers
These robust, rugged machines are popular choices with factories, plants, mills, and mining facilities. Rather than light plastic models, these are usually steel. They are designed to handle the toughest floors.Nice features are side brooms that pick up dirt in corners. You will find machines that can boast of running up to five hours on a charge. There are manual sweepers that can be used in small warehouses, machine shops, and retail stores, One manufacturer’s model is said to be able to clean as much as 30,000 square feet of floor space in one hour.

Rider Sweepers
These are available in steel and they are suitable for dusty industrial environments. Their advantage is in their maneuverability. Some models have a very expansive sweep path, which means less time taken to cover more space. You can also find sweepers with features such as varied forward and reverse speeds.

Mini-Sweepers
For business environments that are not factory-based, other types of floor sweepers are worth considering.You have your pick of cordless, electrical models which have battery packs promising about 45 minutes of run time on hard surfaces, and a half-hour on carpets. Cutter-guide grooves on sweepers are for scooping up hair and threads.Another great technical plus to some of today’s floor sweepers is their noise level—not a problem. Some mini-sweepers are extremely quiet, which makes them suitable for sites that do not easily accommodate machine sounds—hotel-reception areas, banks, classrooms, and restaurants, to name a few.